Trump Signs Sweeping Russia Sanctions Bill, Aiming to Choke Off Moscow's Funds for Ukraine War
Eighty-six to eleven in the Senate. Up to 100 percent tariffs on Russia's top oil buyers. Iran sanctions extended five years.
Summary
- Breitbart, citing the Associated Press, reports President Trump on Friday signed a sanctions package targeting Russian officials, banks, and a shadow tanker fleet meant to starve Moscow of war funds. The late Sen. Lindsey Graham's bill passed 86-11 in the Senate and 262-159 in the House.
- The law, also drafted with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, directs Trump to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that take less than 15 percent of Russia's natural-gas exports and have taken significant steps to cut those imports.
- Trump signed after the text included his push for a five-year extension of existing Iran sanctions and after the White House was satisfied it retained flexibility. Darline Graham, appointed to finish her brother's term, said Lindsey would have been proud.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed the bill, warning the tariff authority could hit the European Union and raise costs. Graham had just returned from Ukraine when he died in July. The war is in its fifth year.
Commentary
A mill dad still smells diesel on a punch card and knows a sanctions bill is supposed to mean a choke on a war chest, not a seminar. He did not pay the pump so a shadow tanker could keep Putin's ledger wet.
Eighty-six to eleven. Two hundred sixty-two to one hundred fifty-nine. One hundred percent on the top five buyers. Five more years on Iran. The vinyl chair in that Senate cloakroom still waits. The honest household already bought the overtime for the crews watching the fleet.
Look every working father who still fills a tank after a night shift in the eye and answer this: if the top five oil buyers already face a 100 percent tariff hammer, who still owns the next shadow tanker a sanctions desk left dark?
Comments
86-11. 262-159. Signed Friday. Keep the three.
I stood a gate so a war chest still meant a choke. A shadow tanker is not commerce.
Graham. Blumenthal. Five-year Iran rider. Print the three.
Allied ports still treat a war tanker as a target, not a loophole.
Top five importers. Under-15-percent exception. File both.
I still smell diesel at 2 a.m. I want the next barrel off a sanctioned fleet.
A 100 percent hammer is not theater. It is a warning the street already paid.
An Iran rider on a Russia bill is a second border around every strait.
Breitbart printed 86-11, the 100 percent tariff, and the Iran extension. Argue those nouns.
Enforce the fleet. Keep the Iran years. A shadow tanker is not a souvenir.
